Atchafalaya Crawboy
Reminiscent of a New England lobster roll, this recipe uses red swamp crawfish poached in butter, garlic and Meyer lemon. The flavorful tail-meat is then chilled and tossed with homemade mayonnaise, shaved celery, green bell pepper, scallions and Cajun spices. Served on a top-split, toasted roll with dandelion greens, crunchy sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper and Tabasco sauce..
Atchafalaya Crawboy
For the Crawfish
1/2 pound red swamp crawfish tail-meat, preferably fresh
3 tablespoons pastured butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon
2 oz semi-dry white wine
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Melt the butter in a non-reactive pan set over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add crawfish, lemon juice and wine and simmer slowly until crawfish is barely done. Remove from heat, stir in parsley and allow to cool. Use a slotted spoon to transfer mixture to a bowl and refrigerate at least 1 hour. The cooking liquid may be reserved for another recipe if desired.
For the Mayonnaise
8 oz olive oil
2 small pastured egg yolks
1 teaspoon fresh Meyer lemon juice
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (paprika, cayenne, thyme, oregano, black pepper)
fine sea salt to taste
Whisk lemon juice, egg yolks and seasoning together in a bowl. Add the oil in a very thin stream, whisking continuously to form an emulsion. Season to taste with salt, and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
For the Crawfish Salad
1 cup crawfish from above
1/3 cup mayonnaise from above
1 1/2 tablespoons celery, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons scallions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon green bell pepper, diced
salt and pepper
Combine all ingredients together in a bowl. Taste and adjust for seasoning if needed. Chill until ready to use.
To assemble
Top-split fresh sandwich rolls and toast under broiler until golden brown. Spread with a little butter, then loosely fill with blanched and shocked dandelion greens. Fill with chilled crawfish salad, then dress with Tabasco and lemon juice. Serve immediately.
